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Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete *PIC*
By:FShark
Date: 7/17/2015, 10:46 am
In Response To: Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass (Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks)

She’s finally ready for sea trials!

A couple of notes about the fiberglass:

As noted in previous posts, it is a bit heavy, only available in 8.5 oz, in this case I was looking for an ‘expedition weight’ layup, so that was not a concern.

It will not conform to tight radius curves or compound curves very easily. You need to be very carful when laying the glass out, since any distortion in the weave will be readily visible. Try to layout the glass so the weave is parallel for a more uniform look. I used a black pigmented undercoat of epoxy to mitigate any cosmetic issues where the weave started to separate. Since I was working very carefully, I did not have any significant issues.

It is a bit difficult to determine when the glass is properly wetted out and if there are voids.

Sanding through. This is THE huge issue. Any place where you sand though, even a little bit, will completely destroy the uniform look, and as far as I can tell there is no fixing it once it happens.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Like many others, I have a garage full of bright varnish finished boats. I wanted something unique. The Petrel turned out pretty much as planned. It will be interesting to see how it looks after some regular use and abuse.

Messages In This Thread

Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
FShark -- 8/5/2014, 7:54 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
JohnAbercrombie -- 8/5/2014, 12:48 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Brian Nystrom -- 8/7/2014, 7:25 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Howie -- 8/7/2014, 4:49 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
JohnAbercrombie -- 8/7/2014, 7:42 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Howie -- 8/8/2014, 6:07 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
FShark -- 8/11/2014, 8:37 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Etienne Muller -- 8/11/2014, 9:11 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Paul Davies. -- 8/7/2014, 2:44 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
John Messinger -- 8/7/2014, 11:18 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Paul Davies. -- 8/8/2014, 4:53 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Marc upchurch -- 8/8/2014, 1:48 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Paul Davies. -- 8/8/2014, 3:47 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass *PIC*
FShark -- 6/4/2015, 3:30 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
scottbaxter -- 6/4/2015, 6:50 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Nick Riccardi -- 6/4/2015, 7:24 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
John Messinger -- 6/4/2015, 8:47 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Brian Nystrom -- 6/5/2015, 7:47 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Bill Hamm -- 6/5/2015, 10:10 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
John Messinger -- 6/5/2015, 10:39 am
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/4/2015, 10:20 pm
Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete *PIC*
FShark -- 7/17/2015, 10:46 am
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
MattD. -- 7/17/2015, 1:34 pm
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
scottbaxter -- 7/17/2015, 5:35 pm
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
Bill Hamm -- 7/18/2015, 7:04 am
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
Paul Davies. -- 7/18/2015, 5:56 pm
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
Bill Hamm -- 7/20/2015, 12:42 am
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
Jay babina -- 7/22/2015, 2:20 pm
Re: Aluminized Fiberglass Petrel – Complete
frankp -- 9/24/2015, 1:08 pm
Re: Material: Aluminized Fiberglass
Don Goss -- 6/7/2015, 9:55 am